Capacity Building push for Civil Service Officers

A group of 40 Sri Lankan Civil Service Officers attended a comprehensive capacity-building program on “Disaster Management” at the National Center for Good Governance (NCGG), India, which concluded on Aug. 21.

As the fifth specialized training under the “Disaster Management” theme, the program aimed to strengthen the capabilities of civil service officers engaged in disaster preparedness, response, recovery, and resilience-building.

The program covered topics such as disaster preparedness and mitigation strategies; disaster management planning and policy; response mechanisms and field operations; early warning systems; urban and local resilience; building state capacity to manage disasters; and implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, among others.

The participants undertook field visits to key institutions, including the National Disaster Management Authority, the National Disaster Response Force, the Uttarakhand State Disaster Management Authority, and Uttarakhand State Disaster Response Force.

This initiative forms part of a Memorandum of Understanding signed by NCGG and the Sri Lanka Institute of Development Administration during the State Visit of President H.E. Anura Kumara Dissanayake to India in 2024, to train 1,500 Sri Lankan civil service officers over five years.

Capacity-building stands as a cornerstone of India’s development cooperation with Sri Lanka. Further reinforcing this commitment, Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi, during his State Visit to Sri Lanka in April 2025, announced an additional 700customized training slots annually for Sri Lankan professionals.

This significantly enhanced capacity-building endeavor by India now benefits 1,000 Sri Lankans annually.